Hollywood studios are hiring fewer filmmakers and giving them less power. So, what is wrong?

Making a movie is probably one of the most challenging things you could try to do.

Yet nearly everyone in the world of Raindance is an aspiring filmmaker, which means you have to:

Banish your personal life and become totally absorbed in your project

Ask every single person you know or meet if they can help you (or not)

Pour your blood, sweat and tears into your movie

When it's finished wait years before you get paid (if at all)

So why does everyone want in?

Here's the Catch. To really make it as a filmmaker you need to be able to make compromises to the faceless moneymen who finance your film. And as any astute observor of the Hollywood system can see, filmmakers are allowed fewer and fewer choices.

Even the Christopher Nolan's of this world are allowed the creative freedom to make Inception IF and only if they concede to a demand from their financiers - in this case Warner Bros - in exchange for directing a 3rd Batman.

Yet, this 'terrible job' is something that everyone seems to want to do. And why? Because when it works out, being a filmmaker is probably the most powerful, rewarding and satifying job that there is.

So, what is the secret formaula that filmmakers like Nolan and Tarantino use to make it to the top?

They all started at the bottom, learned and honed their craft by making films - films with incredibly modest budget. Nolan's first film, The Following, made for a modest £6,000 and screened at Raidance.

What better way to study and learn about filmmaking than coming to this year's Raindance Film Festival and seeing the Nolan's and Tarantino's of tomorrow. Most of the filmmakers are attending making it the ideal venue to listen, question and learn.

He has produced over 150 short films, and 5 feature films. He has written eight scripts, one of which is currently in pre-production. His first feature film, TABLE 5 was shot on 35mm and completed for a total of £278.38. He teaches writers and producers in the UK, Europe. Japan and America.